Human
behaviour is
heavily
influenced by the
schemata (our
core beliefs)
which develop
from early
experiences.
Negative schemata can
result from unhappy or
traumatic childhoods.
Negative
schemata lead to
NEGATIVE
AUTOMATIC
THOUGHTS
which are
misplaced and
dysfunctional
because nobody
can be good at
everything.
Negative automatic
thoughts are rapid and
unconscious responses to
situations, which produce
COGNITIVE BIASES.
Cognitive biases prevent a person
from seeing any positives in their life,
reinforcing negative views.
EXAMPLES OF COGNITIVE BIASES
MINIMISATION.
Crediting successes
to external factors
rather than yourself.
MAXIMISATION.
Exaggerating the
importance of small
failures.
SELECTIVE ABSTRACTION.
Focusing on negative aspects
of life only. Ignoring the wider
picture.
ALL OR NOTHING
THINKING. Ignoring middle
ground - either you think
that you are a success at
everything, or a success at
nothing.
HOW FAULTY
THINKING CAN
CAUSE
PSYCHOLOGICAL
DISORDERS
BECK'S 1979 MODEL OF DEPRESSION.
3 negative
schemata are
needed to
cause
depression and
this is called
the negative
triad.
Negative
view of
the self.
Negative
view of
the
world.
Negative
view of
the
future.
ATTRIBUTIONS are out interpretation
of why things happen and they have
three dimensions. Internal/external,
specific/global, stable/unstable.
Depression = seeing negative events as
internal, global & stable and positive events
as external, specific & unstable.
ELLIS' ABC MODEL
Activating events (A)
combine with beliefs (B) to
produce particular
consequences (C). Irrational
beliefs (B), faulty thinking,
will lead to inappropriate
negative emotions (C).
EVALUATION OF THE COGNITIVE APPROACH
STRENGTHS
Clark, 1986, gave clear
evidence that
depression and anxiety
disorders correlate with
cognitive biases and
faulty thinking.
Therapy based on
the cognitive method
(e.g. SIT) is very
successful in treating
depression and
anxiety disorders.
Empowers the individual, this
model places people in a far less
passive position than others.
WEAKNESSES
Vagueness. The ideas of
schemata and exactly how
irrational thoughts should be
measured lack clarity.
'Faulty thinking' and
negative cognitive biases
could be an effect rather
than a cause.
The emphasis put
on the person's faulty
thinking could lead to
blame being allotted.
The cognitive approach
does not leave room for
biological factors in
psychopathology, and
Bunney has shown that
depression has links with
low levels of serotonin.